


The undead life

by Lieju



Series: Jerk Vampire AU [4]
Category: Gaston (Bande Dessinée)
Genre: M/M, tried to keep them in character, while twisting them to make them evil killers who feed off on humansand look down on them as food.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 13:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8016079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lieju/pseuds/Lieju
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The continuation to the 'bad ending' to 'His Habits- a saunter'</p>
            </blockquote>





	The undead life

 

 

 

”So, you're awake.”

Prunelle didn't need to turn to know it was his partner moving towards him. Even without his improved hearing and sense of smell, he could have felt him, sense his presence, when they were this close.

 

He guessed some things never changed. Gaston might have been a vampire now, but he was as sleepy as ever, and even if he wasn't sleeping the still death-like rest of a vampire, he could sometimes be found napping somewhere, hanging upside-down in bat form,. Prunelle hoped he wouldn't go into hibernation or anything like that.

 

Well, Prunelle would keep watch over him.

 

Him and the numerous bats and rats the other vampire somehow controlled.

Prunelle watched fascinated, as Gaston reached out from the window, and a bat flew to him, and hung from his finger.

 

That was a skill he completely lacked.

 

They were currently staying on the attic of an old house in the Paris suburbs.

 

The owner of the house, and the only legal inhabitant, had been disposed of and buried in the cellar. Despite Gaston's objections. He had thought it would have been funny to leave her in the foyer to be used as a hat rack. Prunelle, and his common sense, had eventually prevailed. They wanted to avoid any smells that would attract unwanted attention, after all.

 

And it wasn't like Gaston even wore hats.

Prunelle had changed the suit he had been buried in for a dark-colored sweater and trousers, but despite his insistence, Gaston had decided to keep his style, which was far too recognizable for Prunelle's taste.

 

”Heey, Prunelle, I'm hungry.”

 

Prunelle was willing to bet that wasn't true. They had fed just few days ago. He was just bored.

 

But he had no objections. ”We can go for a hunt tonight.”

 

He was just about to add 'But not too close to this house', when Gaston pointed out of the window. ”I want that one.”

 

Prunelle looked out. ”What? Which one?”

 

”That one! That short fat man!”

 

Prunelle tried to talk him out of it. ”Do you really want to eat _him_? He looks like he is mostly fat, think what his blood must be like, wouldn't someone thinner, more fit-”

 

”Nonono.” Gaston wiggled his finger at him, annoying the bat that flew away. ”Don't you think it will be fun seeing him try to run away?”

 

”Hm.”

 

Prunelle observed the man who had stopped on the little street in front of the house to talk to someone. He did seem wealthy, the suit was well-tailored.

 

So on the other hand this was a chance to acquire some money as well as dinner. You never knew if you needed money, they might have to try to blend in with humans, and buying was safer than stealing next time Gaston wanted some trinket.

 

But on the other hand, a rich person disappearing and turning up dead was bound to attract more attention.

 

Prunelle bit down on his unlit pipe deep in thought, a force of habit. He had made an attempt to smoke once after his death, and while he had gotten the hang of it eventually, it had been completely unsatisfying and only given him a feeling his head was full of smoke. Well, it wasn't like he felt the need for tobacco anymore either.

 

”I have decided,” Gaston pouted. ”I want that one.”

 

”Fine.” Prunelle was starting to learn Gaston would get his way when he was like that. ”But on the condition that we won't attack him close by this house. We'll follow him.”

 

Gaston gave him a bright smile, flashing his sharp canines. ”I knew you'd come around!”

 

…

 

Prunelle walked through the park, keeping an eye on both his partner and their prey.

 

Finally the man had walked to a more secluded area. He could sense a couple of people, some very drunk, no-one who should be a problem.

 

He checked on Gaston.

 

There was a slight mental link between them, but nothing strong enough to tell the exact location of the other, more like a suggestion. In any case, he could hear and smell him.

 

It seemed he had taken the form of a wolf.

 

Well, Prunelle supposed it was a wolf. The black shaggy creature looked more like a big but thin dog.

But still, another skill he was lacking.

 

He could take the form of a bat just fine, but disliked even it. It felt clumsy, what was wrong with mist?

 

Well, the one time Gaston had attempted it he had been carried away by the wind, somehow ending up stuck in someone's chimney.

 

Prunelle stalked closer. He didn't want to miss this.

 

Their prey was starting to notice someone was following him. He stopped and turned towards the dog behind him.

”Shoo!” He gestured, trying to drive him away.

 

Gaston stopped and sat down, wagging his tail.

 

This man didn't fall for it, taking another step backwards and not breaking eye-contact.

The wolf struck quickly but almost playfully, biting down on his ankle and twisting it, and then letting him go.

 

The man did his best to run.

 

Prunelle had to admit, he did look funny, trying to scamper away with a broken foot from the canine who just effortlessly matched his speed. He supposed that if Gaston killed him in that form they'd might be able to mask this as an animal-attack.

 

”Rogntudju,” Prunelle cursed silently. Gaston was getting carried away again, and was in danger of letting the prey run to the street. It was mostly abandoned this time of the night, but still, not a risk he would take.

 

He took flight to intercept them.

 

The fat man stopped, watching a human shape solidify in front of him from the mist.

 

”Sorry, end of the line.”

The man screamed but it was too late.

 

Prunelle had already made eye-contact. ”Shut up,” he told him, and the man snapped his mouth shut staring at him in horror.

 

Gaston caught up with him, and the sight of the dog shifting to (an admittedly non-threatening-looking) man, made the prey whimper in fear. He twitched, doing his best to get free of the mental hold. To no avail, fright only increased the vampire's control over him.

 

”Why did you do that for?” Gaston complained. ”I had barely time to chase him!”

 

Prunelle gestured towards where the man would have run without his interference.

”Chase him where? On the street?”

 

”He wouldn't have necessarily ran there. Hey,” he addressed the man. ”Where would you have ran?”

 

”Gaston, don't talk to your food.”

 

“ _You_ always do!”

 

Prunelle wasn't about to get into an argument over how he liked to play with his prey. Not that he was opposed to a good chase every now and then, but not without precautions. Such as _not_ doing it in the middle of a city.

He listened, it didn't seem they had attracted attention, but they were more exposed than he would have liked.

”Just bite him already. Didn't you claim you were hungry?”

 

Gaston did just that, and Prunelle joined him.

 

And with two vampires, it was soon over.

 

”Gaston, we aren't done here yet.” Prunelle ignored the elated feeling of being well-fed, they couldn't drop their guard just yet.

 

”Ah. The body.” Gaston made a face. At least he remembered to wipe his mouth this time, they'd attract attention easily enough even without the evidence of their dinner splashed all over their faces. ”Can't we just dump him in a bush somewhere?”

 

”No.” Prunelle went through the pockets of their victim. The wallet wasn't as fat as he had hoped, but it was better than nothing. He internally debated over taking his wedding ring but decided it wasn't worth the risk. Money couldn't be traced back to this, a ring could.

 

”Come on, help me carry this. We'll dump him in the river.”

 

”He is heavy,” Gaston complained.

 

”I seem to remember suggesting we get a lighter one, but someone was adamant...”

 

”And _I_ seem to remember explaining I wanted this one because it looked like fun to chase. A chase which _someone_ cut short.”

 

Prunelle was aware this kind of thing would have annoyed him much more back when they were alive.

Gaston was certainly easier to deal with when you had no blood-pressure.

 

He wondered how quickly Gaston would get caught without him.

He would presumably just leave bodies left and right and draw attention to himself since his idea of dumbing the body was to throw it out with the garbage or hide it in a bush.

 

Then again, what would people do? Assuming they weren't caught resting, Prunelle was confident they'd be able to slip away.

But were there professionals and experts who hunted people like them? They had managed to try it at least. Prunelle hadn't forgotten how close he had come to being permanently killed back in the office archives. It was a real possibility Fantasio's friend or someone like him would find them.

 

And they might be able to take advantage of weaknesses Prunelle himself wasn't even aware of.

 

They had to think ahead. Well, Prunelle had to. He liked the house they were inhabiting at the moment. It was in a suburb and seemed safe enough, but they had no reliable system for getting rid of the bodies.

 

It was bound to attract attention eventually, and they'd have to move.

Would a big city like Paris be the best option? Or someplace secluded?

 

Both had their advantages and possible problems.

 

”We need to find a reliable way of getting rid of the bodies. That or stay on the move,” he mused out loud.

 

”I have been thinking about that, actually.”

 

”We are not going to build a giant catapult for launching them to the sky.”

 

”It was just a suggestion. I have been thinking of a system of turning them into energy.”

 

”Burn them?”

That idea had merit, actually. Of course it meant they'd have to get the bodies always to a fixed location, which was risky... And it was likely to cause suspicious smells. Besides, it wasn't like undeath had improved Gaston's engineering skills, it would probably all go horribly wrong and end in an explosion of burnt corpse-pieces.

 

And even if they could make the bodies vanish they'd still need to worry about people noticing the disappearances.

 

Not for the first time, Prunelle wondered if it was possible to feed without killing the prey. In theory he could have drank less and then used his powers of persuasion afterwards to make them forget, but in practice this had its own problems.

 

To begin with, he wasn't certain the effect would last, there was a risk they'd remember.

 

And it was _uncomfortable_ leaving a job unfinished.

 

It should be saved for special cases where you took your time because the person mattered.

 

And of course, a good hunt and a kill made Gaston so happy.

 

They arrived to the river.

 

”Looks deep enough,” Gaston told him.

 

”He will float though, with all that fat. Luckily I came prepared.” He retrieved the bag he had stashed there before, and threw it to Gaston. ”Here, fill this with rocks.”

 

He started binding the corpse with rope. ”Gaston, you could think ahead, too. You consider yourself an inventor, right?”

 

”And I am thinking of ways to solve this problem, all the time! And don't forget that even now I'm using my bats to keep an eye out for anyone or anything.”

 

With a splash, the body was thrown into the water, and they watched it slowly sink dragged underwater by the weight.

 

Satisfied, they turned and walked away.

 

”Do you know what I would like to do?” Gaston asked.

 

”Apart from building corpse-catapults?”

 

”Wouldn't it be cool choosing a household, and then picking them off one by one? During a longer period of time. We could build traps for them, and you could do that hypnosis-stuff to get them to do stuff! It would be fun!”

 

Prunelle smiled at Gaston's enthusiasm.

Recently fed and the remains of the dinner taken care of, he felt slightly buzzed and at peace with the world.

So he entertained the idea.

Why not?

”It would need to be an isolated house somewhere. It would take a lot of planning, and finding a good time for it...”

 

”A small village, even?”

 

”Those kinds of places have their risks though. People in them notice any newcomers. We'd draw attention to ourselves, they'd notice the deaths started when we came to the village, and the next thing we'd know they'd be after us with pitchforks.”

 

”Who says we'd need to even show ourselves? We could hide, and take animal-forms.”

 

”I am NOT going to hide in a cave somewhere as a bat for weeks. We are going to get proper accommodations, some place to properly rest.”

This was a good time to bring up their future plans. ”I was thinking of heading to Paris next, actually. You've never been to Louvre, have you?”

 

”No. Although I've been to the top of the Eiffel-tower once, you remember that little problem with my electric kite, right? But I like the idea. Even though... Prunelle, I have been thinking.”

 

That sounded a bit worrisome. ”Yes?”

 

”Could we head back to Belgium at some point?”

 

Prunelle stopped. ”Why?” They had not spoken about what they had left behind there, and he had been quite content never to look back.

 

”Well, I can't help but to wonder how Kitty is doing. I'd like to go and make sure he is fine, and maybe take him with us. In any case, he must be worried. And what about my turtle, or my fish?”

 

For a moment Prunelle was nervous he'd bring up his seagull and its fate. Personally he had been happy to finally snap the thing's neck. Not that he would _ever_ mention that to Gaston.

”I'm sure the people at the office take good care of them. Lebrac is fine with cats, and your pets were never left alone, I'm sure they found them almost immediately after we left, and found new homes for them. Maybe Fantasio adopted them. The man has a pet _squirrel,_ he likes animals.”

 

”But they will worry. I didn't have time to say goodbye.”

 

”Gaston, it's too dangerous.”

 

”But-”

 

”No buts.”

 

…

 

”Bertrand speaking.”

 

”Bertrand?”

 

He did a double-take. ”Gaston!?”

 

”Yes, I just called to ask how my pets are-”

 

”What happened to you? You disappeared, and some people from your work came around and they didn't say anything but I got the impression something was- Something bad- They talked about you like you were dead!”

 

”No, I'm not. Well, I'm fine. I can't talk about it. But the reason I called was to ask how my pets are doing.”

 

”Huh? Well, they are fine. I have Achille and your fish right here, I think your cat is still at the office-” He stopped, realization dawning on him. It was possible Gaston didn't even know about _that._

”Gaston, did you know about what happened to Miss Jeanne?”

 

”Mmhuh? I guess so?”

 

”She is dead Gaston, she was found dead.”

_And I thought that whatever happened to her killed you too, but no-one even told me how she died._

 

”Yeah. I know.”

 

Bertrand froze. His first thought was that this person on the other end of the line wasn't Gaston.

How could he sound so casual about it? Almost cold.

”Gaston, are you okay?”

 

”I'm fine, great even. Better than I have ever been.”

 

”Where are you? When are you coming back?”

 

”I don't think I can come back. But it's fine.”

 

Obviously everything wasn't fine. ”What about aunt Hortense?”

 

”What about her? Oh, tell her I'm okay. I need to go now, tell Kitty I said hi.”

 

He hang up.

 

Bertrand stared at the receiver, starting to wonder.

…

 

 

 


End file.
